


Summer Won't Wait For Us

by goodgollyzollie



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Eventual Relationships, F/F, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, background daisuga and iwaoi, first second and third years are campers, inspired by my job as a camp counselor, summer camp lingo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-24
Updated: 2017-02-20
Packaged: 2018-08-24 07:46:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8363875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goodgollyzollie/pseuds/goodgollyzollie
Summary: Tanaka just wants a summer away from the stressors of his usual life; namely, his recent breakup and his parent's disappointment. And though Camp Sukairian is anything but relaxing, with its manic staff, energetic campers, and the situations that are born from a medley of the two, it's just what he needs.He would have been perfectly happy even if Nishinoya Yuu hadn't decided to work as a fellow counselor, but as it stands, his summer is looking to be even better than he bargained for.





	1. The Beginning (Staff Training Begins)

It had been a year since Tanaka had been there, but Camp Sukairain looked the same as it had last summer and all the summers before it.

     As he drove his rusty pickup farther into the winding woods, he saw the same cabins he’d stayed in dotted between the trees. He remembered running between them, down paths that were riddled with roots and rocks, chasing his campers and fellow counselors. He remembered the doors that squeaked when you opened them and slammed when you closed them. He remembered staring at the wooden supports of the roof during rest time, the snores of counselors and whispers of his campers filling his ears. He remembers the vinyl mattresses, the gritty floors, the thump of bugs against the walls. As a child, it had been scary and thrilling, being away from home with five other boys and two college kids as his family for two weeks.

     He knew now that it was just as scary and thrilling to be on the other side of it.

     As he drove by various roads splitting off of the driveway, Tanaka mentally mapped out where each one connected to. One lead to the bathhouse and opening to the cabin trail, another to the pool and field, a third to the pond and archery range.

     Finally, near the top of the hill, the smooth pavement gave way to crackling gravel. An odd collection of buildings was clustered at the top of the hill, inside the ring of trees and around the small parking lot. The biggest building was the kitchen and dining hall, looking like it hadn’t been renovated since Tanaka was eleven. The building wasn’t terribly fancy, with dark brown walls and windows covered by mismatched curtains. There was a plain wooden sign above the door that said “K n D.”

     Next to the hulking dining hall, the yellow bungalow that held the office looked like a dollhouse. Flower pots full of vines and petunias were stationed by the door, and various other clumps flowers and plants grew around the building, giving off a charmingly mismatched vibe that was clearly camp.

     The final building was the infirmary/extra lodging/storage space that Tanaka had spent more than his fair share of time in, between all the bee stings and scrapes he suffered as a camper. The clapboard structure had tall, stretching windows on either side of the front, and a red cross painted on the door. A lone hula hoop was leaning on the wall. A baseball bat was abandoned in the grass by the door.

     A small sign outside of the office exclaimed: “WELCOME SUMMER STAFF! PLEASE MEET IN K AND D!”  
Tanaka pulled his truck into the parking lot and killed the engine. Pulling out his phone, he typed out a quick text to Tora:

      _at camp. will call later._

     After sending it, Tanaka met his own gaze in the rearview mirror. Dark, uncertain eyes studied him for a minute, before he squeezed them shut. His hands smacked his face, the crisp smack echoing in his ears before he threw open his door and stepped onto the gravel.  
  
     The air was fresh- the camp was situated at least five kilometers from any towns or cities, so no civilization stink penetrated the wind. The trees around him stirred in the clean breeze. Far off, in one of the tall sycamores, a bird screeched. And Tanaka was home again.

     The door to the K and D was propped open by a painted rock. It was orange, with a black bird on the top of it. From the signature, he could make out that the rock was painted by Shouyou last year. Grinning, he stepped through the threshold of the hall.  
  
     There were a few clumps of people dotted around the room. One such group held a distinctive undercut, who was talking with a dark-haired woman with glasses and a nervous looking blonde. The dark haired woman glanced over at Tanaka and raised a hand in greeting.

     “Hello, Tanaka,” Kiyoko called as Tanaka trailed over to where they were standing.

     “Tanaka!” Terushima whipped around, grinning widely at him. “Didn’t think you’d make it.”

     “And yet, here I am,” Tanaka replied, “handsome and charming as ever.” Terushima laughed, before grabbing him for a tight hug.

     Kiyoko rolled her eyes, before placing a hand on the shaking blonde’s shoulder. “Tanaka, this Yachi Hitoka. She’s going to be the assistant HSO this year,” She then waved her hand to Tanaka, smiling slightly. “And Yachi, this is Tanaka Ryuunosuke. He’s been a counselor these past few summers.”

     Yachi raised her eyes to meet Tanaka’s, before bowing so quickly she looked like she would fall over. “Nice you meet you, Tanaka! I look forward to working with you this summer!”

     “Nice to meet you, too.” He said, bowing back, though with much less gusto.

     Terushima let out a long, sighing breath as he stretched back, holding his elbows over his head. “Man, did you hear about Daichi and Suga?”

     “Why? What happened?” Tanaka asked, glancing around the room. He found the pair talking with a tall, dainty man he recognized as Oikawa. One of Terushima’s eyebrows shot up.

     “They’ve moved in together. Apparently, they have an apartment in Tokyo, now that Suga’s done with his master’s degree or whatever in Nagoya,” Terushima said, smirking smugly. “I thought you would have known, Tanaka.”

     Tanaka nodded. “Oh, I did. I helped them move in back in May.”

     Terushima dropped his arms, cursing under his breath. “I hoped I would have known before you.”

     Bursting out into laughter, Tanaka slapped his arm around Terushima’s shoulder. “Not in a million years. The only person they told before me was Asahi, so I’m basically one of their right-hand men.”

     Despite hitting off on a bad note last year (i.e. having a terribly awkward week of staff training punctuated by butting heads over Kiyoko) Terushima and Tanaka gained a mutual respect once they were paired to be co-counselors during a particularly tough session of camp. Bonding over hellish campers and a particularly poor coworker, they made it through the two weeks and emerged alive and exhausted together.

     It also helped that the whole Kiyoko thing was put to rest once she came out as a lesbian halfway through the summer.

     After a few minutes of idle chatter, the two women walked off to meet others in the room. Terushima turned to Tanaka with an easy smile. “So? How are you?”

     In response, Tanaka shrugged.“Fine. I traveled to Europe with Eri a couple weeks ago,” He said, frowning, “but she broke up with me while we were flying back, so. I dunno. I’m fine, I guess.”

     Terushima patted his shoulder, hard. “I heard from Tora. That sucks, man. Sorry.”

     “Thanks.”

     “But, hey,” He gave his shoulder a parting squeeze, “you’re here now. And pretty soon you’re going to forget all about Eri, and all that stuff. You’ll be thinking about other stuff, like wondering if your camper is actually sick or just lazy.”

     Tanaka snickered. “Or worrying about a camper puking in the bathroom on the first night.”

     “That’s the spirit, Tanaka,” Terushima said. “Besides, you might meet someone here. It happened to Suga and Daichi, after all. Camp is a magical place.”

     Tanaka stood up straight, pushing his shoulders back and lifting his chin. “Okay, fine. I'll humor you.” Terushima deflated a bit.

     “You should be positive for your own sake, not mine.”

     “Sure, if you say so.” Tanaka said, “Say, have you finally met anyone you want to actually date for more than a month? Or is the lone wolf mentality still working for you?”

     Inexplicably, Terushima flushed a deep pink. “Uh, n-”

     “Oh, he’s definitely not lone wolfing anymore.”

     Terushima jumped, turning to meet the slightly narrow-eyed gaze of Misaki Hana. She had her hands on her hips, a teasing smile on her lips. “Well? I’m waiting.” She said, trying to seem intimidating but the glint in her eye betrayed her. Terushima puffed out a sigh.

     “Should I wait-” He muttered, and she shook her head.

     “Nope,” Hana said, “you tell him now. He’s not going to care.”

     Terushima laughed, though it seemed a little forced. “Of course,” He turned back to Tanaka who, during this whole exchange, had followed officially none of it. “I’m seeing my two roommates.”

     A few seconds passed, in which Tanaka went through everyone Terushima had ever introduced him to. “Who?” Tanaka asked, “Futamata and Bobata?”

     “Yeah.” If it were possible for Terushima to look small and shy, he would have then, eyes downcast and hands stuffed in his pockets. But Tanaka pulled him into a tight side hug, while Hana murmured “I told you he would be cool with it.”

     “And I totally am,” Tanaka said, pulling back. “But I gotta say, man, it is totally unfair that as I get dumped by a girl who I took to Italy, you get to fuck two hot guys in the comfort of your own home.”

     Terushima coughed into his fist, before glancing around the room. “Not so loud. I haven’t told very many people yet, so Hana-” he cut his eyes across to her, “-keep your mouth shut.”

     She mimed locking her lips and throwing away the key. “My lips are sealed.”

     “She’s been bugging me to tell you since I told her,” Terushima said. “Something about our ‘deep emotional bond’ from hell week.” He rolled his eyes, and she lightly smacked the back of his head.

     “Idiot. In high school you were so reckless,” She pushed out her lower lip, scrutinizing him. “And I got used to it, so I’m not sure I like this cautious Terushima.”

     “Blame my idiotic freshman year of college.”

     She snorted. “That it was. Honestly, I’m surprised any of you guys survived.”

     “So am I,” Terushima admitted, running his fingers through his hair, and lacing them behind his neck. “Well, now I’m a wiser man. A wiser man with a tramp stamp and a healthy fear of street racing.”

     Before anyone could reply to this, a loud voice announced to the room “Staff, grab yourselves some chairs and make a circle.”

     Takeda, a mousy man with glasses and a big smile, was waving his clipboard in a vaguely circle shaped motion before he sat in a cherry red folding chair. Next to him, Ukai was reading a packet of papers with a slight frown on his face. With the melody of scraping chairs and shuffling steps still fading, Takeda grinned brightly.

     “Well, welcome, everyone,” He started, clapping his hands. “I can see a lot of returning faces, but a couple new ones, too. Regardless, I’m happy to see all of you here with us for another great summer. Quickly, those of us with positions beyond those of counselors will explain them. To start, my name is Takeda, and I am the camp director. I’m in charge of all the technicalities of the camp, within the actual area and its connections with the rest of the world. I look forward to working with you all.” He inclined his head, then glanced to Ukai.

     Ukai nodded and straightened his shoulders a tad. “I’m Ukai. I met all of you because I was in charge of hiring for this summer, so trust all of you have good character. Don’t prove me wrong. Beyond hiring new staff for the summer, I also act as the program director, meaning I coordinate all the scheduling for all the staff and events we have here. Also, I schedule all your breaks, so don’t piss me off.” With that, he returned to the packet of papers he was holding.

     To Ukai’s right, Kiyoko spoke. “My name is Kiyoko, and I will be one of the Health and Safety Officers. I will handle medications, illness, and any medical emergency beyond minor scrapes.”

     “A-and I’m Yachi. I will be acting as the assistant Health and Safety Officer for the summer,” Yachi said, voice calmer than it had been when Tanaka had spoken to her. “I look forward to working with everyone here. Only I hope I don’t see you. Oh, I didn’t mean it like that! I just want to see your campers. Wait, I didn’t mean that either-”

     “It’s fine, Yachi,” Kiyoko murmured with a small chuckle, “we know what you mean.” A wave of laughter rocked the room, not without Yachi’s nervous giggle among the noise. Ennoshita started next.

     “I’m Ennoshita, and I’ll be the photographer and one of the head counselors this year,” He said. “I’m here if you need advice, a shoulder to cry on, or someone switch out with while you break sticks in the woods. Or even if you need someone to sit with for five and half hours because a camper is faking a twisted ankle to get out of a hike and cookout in the woods.” He grinned at Terushima with the last statement.

     Terushima just laughed and whispered, “Oh, sweet Kenma.”

     Next to Ennoshita, Yui was nearly vibrating in her seat. “My turn! I’m Yui, and I’m the other head counselor. I’m there for all the same reasons Ennoshita is, except I’m also there for counselors that are single parenting it and can’t stay behind with the one camper who won’t get out of bed in the morning, so Ennoshita and I both hang with them,” She paused, then clarified. “Single parenting is when you don’t have a co-counselor with you. For all the newbies here.”

     Takeda nodded and brought the attention back to himself. “The rest of you are primarily counselors, though there’s a lifeguard-archery instructor-counselor hybrid in with you. So now, I’d like to go around the room and have everyone say their names. Best to start this as early as possible.” He pointed to Suga, who was sitting on his left.

     “Suga.”

     “Daichi.”

     “Oikawa.”

     “Alisa.”

     “Hana.”

     “Terushima.”

     “Tanaka.”

     “Yukie.”

     “Nishinoya.”

     Yui clapped her hands. “And back to me.”

     Takeda smiled. “Very good. Well, I suppose we should start by going over the mission statement. Ennoshita, where did we put the staff manuals?”


	2. The Time of Our Lives

The group broke for dinner around quarter to five. Tanaka was stuffing his face with some delicious dish he wasn’t even sure he could name when someone set their tray down next to him. “Anyone sitting here?”

     Slurping his food, Tanaka glanced up, expecting Suga or Daichi (Terushima wouldn’t have bothered asking) but met Nishinoya’s eyes instead. Instead of trying to talk around the mouthful, he waved his hand in what he hoped indicated welcoming. The other man smiled and sat. “Thanks.”

     Finally swallowing, Tanaka grinned, “No problem. Nishinoya, right?”

     Nishinoya nodded, “But just Noya is fine. No use being so formal, I guess.”

     “True that,” Terushima said, throwing himself down next to Noya. “If you call your co-workers ‘Terushima-san’ or whatever when they’re crying into their shoulder, in kind of ruins the cathartic effect of it.”

     Noya looked slightly taken aback. “Just how much crying should I expect this summer?”

     “A lot,” Terushima said, poking at something on his tray, “if Tanaka’s your co-counselor.”

     “Can it, punk,” Tanaka grumbled. “And I don’t cry that much.”

     Suga, followed by Daichi and Oikawa, set his tray down across from Tanaka. “There’s no shame in being a little emotional, Tanaka.”

     “I’m not-”

     “Sorry to interrupt,” Ennoshita said, walking over to their table, “but I just wanted to tell you that guys will be staying in Cabin 6 for training. If you could move your stuff down there after dinner, that would be best.”

     While the rest of the table griped (“Cabin 6? That one’s nasty!”) Tanaka slipped his phone out of his pocket. He hadn’t really had a chance to check it since arriving at camp, so he wasn’t surprised to see numerous people had texted him. Tora, Saeko, his parents, one of his co-workers from his job back in Tokyo, and Eri. After weeding through the other, more pleasant messages, he found himself staring at the newest thread of Eri’s messages.

_Tora let me in. (Received at 17:45)_

_I’m getting the last of my stuff. (Received at 17:47)_

     It would have been a lie to say he didn’t still have feelings for her, but he knew it was better for both of them now. It had been nothing serious, but both their parents had gotten attached to the idea of their relationship before either of them had. So, for ten months, they stayed together for their parents' sake. Tanaka supposed that somewhere along the way, he had grown attached to her, too.

     Apparently, the feeling had not been mutual.

     He stared at the messages, trying to think of an appropriate response. Finally, he forced his fingers to write out:

      _okay. did you get the stuff in the bathroom? ( Sent at 18:02)_

     She texted back almost immediately. Just like she always did.

      _Yeah, I did. I left your things on your bed, too. (Received at 18:03)_

      _k thanks. (Sent at 18:04)_

     With that, he slipped his phone in has back pocket, and turned his attention to the conversation at the table.

     “-so Michi and Kenta are standing on the island in the middle of the lake, a half mile away, screaming at each other,” Suga was saying, “and at this point I’m thinking ‘why the fuck did I become a counselor.’ Then, like the literal gift from the gods he is, Daichi is pulling out a canoe and paddling across the lake to get them. I got chewed out by Ukai for the whole fiasco later, but it was worth it. The kids were fine, and Daichi and I got together because of it. Still, you should never let your campers out of your sight. They have ten times more energy than you do and they will abuse that power,”

     Tanaka had heard this story many time before in the past three years, with varying degrees of truth and dramatization, but the punchline was always the same. Tanaka was pretty sure Suga just liked telling everyone he and Daichi had been together for nearly six years.

     Noya looked shocked, leaning back in his seat with mouth agape. “And these kids were how old?”

     Suga laughed. “Eight and nine, but after the first few rough days they settled down considerably. Just last year, they came for their last summer and were easily the best campers I had all season. I don’t mean to scare you, Noya,” Suga said quickly. “Most campers are great, but there can be a couple challenging ones thrown in there, too. If you have a good co-counselor, you have nothing to be worried about.”

     “Yeah,” Oikawa said, leaning across the table, “if you and I get paired together, we’ll have the most relaxing week of your life. I always get blessed with drama free cabins.”

     Terushima snorted. “That is the biggest lie I’ve ever heard. Just last year, you got a giant hickey on your shoulder from Iwaizumi and sniveled about not being able to wear tank tops all week.”

     Oikawa sniffed, picking delicately at his food. “I could do without the sass, Teru-chan. At least I didn’t ask you to buy me concealer.”

     “You did, multiple times,” Terushima said. “You’re lucky Iwaizumi took pity on your pathetic ass, because I sure as hell wasn’t gonna.”

     “Ah, Iwa-chan,” Oikawa sighed, “my savior. When does maintenance crew get here?”

     “I think Asahi said they have Monday off, but they should be back by Tuesday,” Daichi replied, flicking through his phone, “but we’re probably going to be pretty busy.”

     Oikawa pouted, but didn’t whine. Instead, he pushed the food on his tray around, eyes landing on Tanaka. “Ryuu, I heard you and Eri broke up. I was sorry to hear it, of course,” Oikawa went on, “but I can’t say I ever liked her. Too sweet for my liking, personally.”

     Suga smacked him, but Tanaka shrugged, chewing his food before speaking. “Thanks, but it’s not that big a deal. My parents were more shook up than I was,” Tanaka admitted, “I’d seen it coming for a long time.”

     Oikawa nodded sagely. “Well, I bet there are a few cute girls in town who you could pick up at the bar-” Suga hit him again, frowning slightly.

     “Oikawa, cut it out.” He hissed, “He didn’t ask for your questionable advice.”

     Oikawa switched back to pouting. “So mean, Kou-chan. With a personality like that, you’d have to be a pretty good lay for Daichi to want to stick around.”

     Tanaka didn’t want to stay for the rest of the conversation, which would probably run circles for the rest of the night. Oikawa would say something snide, followed by Suga’s over-dramatic reaction, with Terushima goading them on and Daichi being dragged in against his will. Eventually, the two would reach some sort of agreement and they would play nice, until Suga would poke fun at Oikawa and the cycle would start again.

     Instead of watching history repeat itself, Tanaka stood with his empty tray, placing it in the cart, and stopped by Ennoshita’s table. “Ennoshita, what’s the agenda?” he asked. Ennoshita glanced at the clock over the door, shrugging.

     “Campfire around eight or so,” he said, “at High on a Rise. You remember where that is?”

     Tanaka grinned. “I think I can recall.” Glancing back at the table, he saw Noya was standing to put away his tray, looking a bit shell-shocked by whatever was being said. Oikawa was looking affronted, and Suga very smug.

     Tanaka waved Noya over with a laugh after he dumped his tray in the cart. “I’m heading down to the cabins, if you wanna take your stuff down there with me,” he offered, swinging his keys around his finger. “I got a truck, so I usually have to haul everyone’s stuff down there, but I think a bit of walking would be good for them today.”

     Noya looked more than slightly relieved at the offer and nodded quickly.

     The two of them slipped outside, sighing in the relative cool of the outdoors. Tanaka grinned at Noya, before gesturing to the cars parked in the tiny lot. “Which one’s yours?”

     “Uh,” Noya pointed to an orange Prius parked at the end of the row, “that one. I think it’s locked, hold up.” He fumbled in his pockets for a few seconds, crumpled bits of paper and coins littering the ground around him before fishing out a fob with a few keys attached. He clicked the fob, before scraping up the junk around him. Tanaka walked to the tiny car, glancing in the windows.

     It looked as though a small scale tornado had blown through.

     Fast food wrappers mingled with articles of clothing, blankets, and a pillow wedged under the passenger seat, a magazine crumpled under a travel mug. The floor was also littered with random trinkets, from pens to rewards cards to a single unopened condom. Noya’s luggage was balanced precariously on the backseat, one bag tipped over and contents spilling out through the half-zipped top.

     Somewhere off to Tanaka’s right, Noya apologized for the mess. “I try to clean it every now and then, but I was running a bit behind schedule this weekend, so that didn’t get done. Sorry about that.”

     Tanaka waved him off, stepping out of the way so Noya could open the door. “You’ve saved me the trouble of apologizing for my truck.”

     Noya laughed, a much louder sound than Tanaka had expected from his small frame, as he stuffed a few items back into his bag. “It can’t be as bad as mine.”

     Tanaka reached for a bag, casting a look back to the KnD. No one else had emerged yet. “I have about as much shit, just in a smaller area.”

     Noya grabbed the last bag, slamming the door shut and glancing around the lot. “Where’s your truck?”

     Tanaka looked across the lot, pointing a bit downhill. “Over there somewhere. I had to park a bit out of the way since I was a little late.”

     Noya shouldered his backpack and grabbed hold of one of the handles of his plastic bin. Dropping the leftover bag on the lid, Tanaka lifted the other side and they began to shuffle across the lot.

     "Tanaka, wait up!” Terushima’s voice called, where he seemed to be leading a pack of camp counselors that no doubt had a lot of stuff to bring down. Tanaka cursed under his breath.

     “Nearly got away,” he muttered. “Sorry, but we’re probably gonna have to load everyone’s crap in now.”

     Ten minutes later, everyone’s boxes and bags had been wedged in either the bed or cab of the truck, Tanaka grumbling about unloading later. Noya and Alisa were the only two who looked even remotely sorry about it, with Oikawa having the gall to complain about his shirts getting crushed under Yukie’s stuff.

     Tanaka, after slamming the tailgate shut, called out “If you’re not there to get your shit when I’m unloading, it’s getting dumped in a pile under the tree. I’ll even take the long way down, so you better be there.” He ignored their whining, waving Noya over. “Come on, you’re getting the scenic tour.”

     He flipped off Terushima when he pretended to jump in the bed, throwing open the driver’s side door. A few bags had snuck into the cab, balanced on the center seat. “Jesus, it’s cramped. I have a teeny bit of space in the bed, so I think I’ll put Oikawa’s beauty bag back there. Noya, just wedge some shit behind the seat if you need to.”

     When they had finally settled into a space they could breathe in, Tanaka started the truck. It shuttered, hiccuped, but revved to life. Breathing out a sigh of relief, Tanaka tapped on the horn to clear a path in his co-workers, giving an additional beep when passing Oikawa and Terushima.

     As the truck chugged down the drive, Noya watched the people disappear from their rearview mirrors before sighing. “Wow.”

     “I know,” Tanaka replied, turning down a narrower, smoother path down to the lake. “It’s pretty around here,”

     “Hm? Oh, yeah,” Noya nodded, “The trees are amazing, yeah,”

     Tanaka chuckled. “What were you referring to, if it wasn’t the trees?”

     Noya shrugged. “I guess I thought that counselors would be, like, stereotypical counselors all the time.”

     “Why? Can’t keep up?” Tanaka teased “There’s no shame in that.”

     Noya flushed. “It’s not that! Just unexpected. I'm kinda relieved, actually.”

     Tanaka nodded, turning down the path that wrapped around the lake and looped back to the cabins. “It’s kinda wild right now, but even by tomorrow they’ll have calmed down a bit. The dynamic during camp is totally different.”

     “Suga and Oikawa,” Noya said, “don’t actually dislike each other?”

     Tanaka glanced over to Noya, seeing he was already looking back at him. “Not at all. Those guys were both campers here, and have been counselors together since they were eighteen. Honestly, when I first got here, I thought they hated each other, too. They were downright awful. But they’re, like, soulmates or some shit. According to Oikawa.

     “We go through a lot of physically and emotionally taxing shit at camp, but we have to face it with a sort of grace. It seems a bit weird to people who haven’t experienced it, but working here brings you together in a way no other job can. The first night is a lot of getting out all our irresponsibility. During camp, we’re basically really cool parents, and if you joke about parents having sex in the pool house, well,” Tanaka shrugged, “it’s kinda weird. I think you’ll even see during the campfire tonight, we were just fucking around.”

     Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Noya visibly relax before breathing out an “Oh.”

     Tanaka reached out to clasp Noya’s shoulder roughly. “We’re all cool here, man. We’re all here to have the time of our lives, and even if the road getting there is a bit rough, it’s a really fucking awesome feeling when a kid tells you and your co they had the best two weeks of their life here.”

     He removed his hand, waving it to his right. “Now, over here we have the island where Suga’s campers swam out to have a fight to the death in his first summer. If you listen closely, you can still hear the screamed insults, and feel Suga’s panic and stress lingering in the air to this day…”


	3. No Big Deal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From Yachi's POV.

Yachi was definitely Not Freaking Out. After all, why would she? She’s just going to be sharing a room with Kiyoko, the most beautiful, gentle, and funny woman she had ever met, for the next two and half months. No big deal.  
  
     Okay, maybe she was freaking out just a teeny bit when she saw how small their room in the infirmary was. It was barely large enough for the two cots wedged in the corners, the dresser that separated them, the gauzy white curtains hanging over the window above it, and the ceiling fan that spun noisily above her. Seriously, the ceiling was low enough that Oikawa (that was his name, right?) could reach it if he stood on his toes.  
  
     And Yachi was going to be sharing this room with Kiyoko.  
  
     “Oh, I forgot how low the ceiling was.”  
  
     Yachi jumped, whirling around. Kiyoko was standing in the doorway, looking into the room. She smiled at Yachi. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” She said, slipping in and surveying the room. “I guess it’s also kinda small. This is the first time I’ll be sharing it with someone, actually, so I apologize in advance. I can be a little messy.”  
  
     Yachi waved her hand dismissively, hoping to come off as much calmer than she felt. “It’s not a big deal at all. I don’t have a lot of stuff, so you can take as much space as you need, Kiyoko.” In her mind, Yachi was still internally screaming, but she nodded to the room with feigned coolness. “Which one do you want? It doesn’t matter to me.”  
  
     Kiyoko smiled again and set her backpack down on the bed to the left side of the room. “The pipes can be kinda creaky at night, but I’m used to it so I’ll take the bed closest to them.”  
  
      _I’m a goner. How can she be so kind?_ Yachi nodded enthusiastically. “Thank you very much, Kiyoko. We can switch later if you’re not able to sleep, of course-”  
  
     Kiyoko laughed and shook her head. “Really, I’m fine, Hitoka.”  
  
     Yachi nodded again and set her stuff down on the right cot. The rest of the summer staff was congregating in the cabins, which Kiyoko told Yachi were not necessarily nice, and they had been instructed to meet at eight for a campfire. Yachi started to pull the sheets out of her bag, but stopped to turn to Kiyoko. “Um, Kiyoko, can I ask you something?”  
  
     The taller woman, who was also pulling out sheets, replied. “Anything, Hitoka.”  
  
      _Be still, my beating heart._ “Why did you ask me to interview for this job? N-not that I’m regretting it or anything, but I’m curious. Why not Maeda or Taichi? They clearly have more experience than I do-”  
  
     “I asked you to interview because I thought you would be best for the job. I trust you, you’re a hardworking student, and have lots of tenacity. Taichi and Maeda certainly are great students, but they wouldn’t have fit in as well as I think you will. Besides,” Kiyoko fully turned to Yachi, eyes glinting, “aren’t I allowed to want to work with the woman I like best?”  
  
     Yachi was studying to be a trauma surgeon, and she also had a good amount of common sense, so she knew it was impossible but it felt like her heart was trying to burst through her ribs. It was some miracle that Kiyoko chose that time to take a shower and leave Yachi to recover from her near-heart attack. When she heard the shower turn on, Yachi flopped down on her bed and scream-sighed into the musty mattress.  
  
     She knew what she had agreed to. She agreed to apply to be the HSO assistant for the same camp Kiyoko had worked at, to work with Kiyoko all summer. She met with Ukai, a scary but gentle man that smiled warmly and gave her hand a tight squeeze as he said they’d be in touch. She waited for three weeks, checking her email between classes, hardly expecting to get the call from Ukai asking her if she still wanted the job. 

     Somehow, it was just now hitting her that she was going to be living with arguably the most attractive (in many ways) woman ever for over two months, in very close quarters.  
  
     Yachi wondered if it was possible to be so completely torn between elation and dread. On the one hand, she had been carrying a torch for Kiyoko for nearly a ten months since she met her in their medical sociology class. The two had grown close, of course, but Kiyoko was finishing her BSN to become a nurse practitioner next year while Yachi had just chosen to become a trauma surgeon, so their interactions were limited. Still, Yachi had prayed for some way to become closer. And then, Kiyoko told Yachi about the job at Camp Sukairain and Yachi had wanted to dance and sing from happiness.  
  
     But now that she was here, reality smacked her in the face. Kiyoko was so much more mature, and smart, and beautiful, and generally so much out of her league. Yachi was skittish and looked like a middle-schooler. And, sure, Kiyoko said she liked her best out of Tachi and Maeda, but what did that even mean? She had spent plenty of time with the two other pre-med students when she started hanging out with Kiyoko, and they were both wonderful. So maybe Kiyoko was just trying to flatter her.  
  
     Was Yachi supposed to divine some great meaning from her words? Some secret or code? Perhaps she should have been watching more spy movies in high school when her friend had invited her over to marathon them.  
  
     While Yachi was agonizing in her bed like a lovesick teen, she had actually forgotten the person she was agonizing over was still around and jumped when Kiyoko slipped back into their room.  
  
     “I’m sorry,” Kiyoko said, not looking very sorry, “I didn’t mean to scare you. Again.”  
  
     Pressing a hand on her chest, Yachi waved her hand quickly. “No, it’s fine. Just got a little lost in thought.”  
  
     “I can see that. Is it anything I can help with?” Kiyoko said, crossing over to sit next to Yachi. The blonde tried not to think too hard about the fact that their shoulders were brushing.  
  
     “No, not really. I think I’m just tired, and over-thinking stuff.” Yachi said, for Kiyoko’s benefit as much as her own. Still, Kiyoko frowned.  
  
    “Do you need to rest? I know you certainly don’t get enough sleep during the school year, but I thought you said you had been sleeping past month.” She brushed a hand over Yachi’s forehead. “You’re not sick, are you?”  
  
     Yachi felt her face heat up and ducked her head quickly. “I’m fine. I was a little nervous about today, so I didn’t sleep great last night. That’s all.”  
  
     Kiyoko pulled back her hand, though she didn’t look particularly convinced. “If you need to nap, I can wake you up in an hour for the campfire.”  
  
     Yachi shook her head. “No, I think I’m going to try to unpack a bit and try to take a shower. I’m sure I’ll sleep fine tonight. Thank you for your concern, but I’m doing good, Kiyoko.”  
  
     Kiyoko nodded and rose. “I think I’ll unpack a bit, too. The water is still hot if you want to take a shower now.”  
  
      _Seriously, what did I do to be able to live with her?_

\---  
  
At a quarter to eight, Yachi let Kiyoko lead her down the hill, chattering away about anything she could think of. She had finally forced herself to calm down, and let herself enjoy Kiyoko’s company. After all, she reasoned, she should get used to working with the other woman rather than jump and blush any time they interacted. She was doing a pretty good job at not freaking out when a roaring engine drowned out whatever she had been saying.  
  
     A pickup, containing pretty much all of the counselors in either the cab or the bed, pulled up next to them. A man with a tattoo snaking up his neck and a nose piercing leaned out the window ( _Terushima?_ )  “Ladies, care to hitch a ride?” He crooned, nodding back to the bed. “We have a bit of extra space back there, I bet.”  
  
     “Sure there is.” Somebody said, and there was a shuffle to make space. Yachi looked at the small, rusty, old truck with apprehension. “Can the truck take it?” She asked as she hoisted herself up into the back, following Kiyoko.  
  
     Terushima shrugged. “We’ll find out.”  
  
     The space that had been cleared, among the people, their backpacks, and a few mysterious boxes, was about enough room for one and a half people to sit. Which meant that Yachi was basically sitting on Kiyoko’s lap.  
  
     Commence the internal panic.

     Yachi was almost too distracted to listen to the conversation, but considering that Kiyoko’s mouth was right by her ear, it was within her sphere of awareness.  
  
     “So,” Oikawa said from their right, long legs curled around his backpack, “how long have you two been together?”  
  
     Yachi hadn’t realized the question had been directed at her and Kiyoko until Kiyoko replied with a low laugh. “We’re not together, Oikawa. She’s just a friend from my university.”  
  
     Yachi’s face flushed as she ducked to stare at her lap. Oikawa humphed. “Could have fooled me.”  
  
     There was no way to discreetly see Kiyoko’s face, as doing such would involve twisting in her lap, but Yachi wished she could. Hopefully Yachi was making a mountain out of a molehill. It wouldn’t be the first time. But she also kinda wished she wasn’t. Because that was totally uncool.  
  
     The two of them continued their conversation, Kiyoko asking him about someone named Iwaizumi, but Yachi had checked out completely.  
  
     Thankfully, the truck soon pulled up to a campfire surrounded by benches, therefore saving Yachi from being trapped in the truck’s bed forever. At the pit, Ennoshita and Yui were poking at the tepee of logs and sticks with matching irritated looks. Yui looked about ready to throw the entire box of matches into the fire.  
  
     Yachi stood up, stretching out her legs, before turning back to offer a hand to Kiyoko. Smiling gratefully, Kiyoko took it and pulled herself up. A friend from university, huh?  
  
     The two of them strolled over to the campfire, where Ennoshita was lightly blowing on a small ember in the tinder while Yui watched with distinct resignation. “You make it look easy, Chika.”  
  
     He just shrugged, as the ember grew to a small flame. “It just takes practice and patience.” He said, sitting back on his haunches.  
  
     Yui snorted and flopped in the grass. She glanced at Yachi and Kiyoko. “You guys rode up with Tanaka, huh? Brave souls.” She patted the grass next her invitingly. “You might need to get used to land again after that.”  
  
     Kiyoko laughed. “He’s getting better. He only hit one pothole on the way here.” Still, she sat down next to Yui and pulled Yachi down next to her with a gentle tug at her wrist. 

     Yachi was successful in not being hung up on the contact when Yui turned to her. “So, Yachi, Kiyoko tells me you’re planning to be a trauma surgeon. That’s really ambitious.”  
  
     “Oh, yeah,” She replied, “My brother is a divorce attorney and my sister’s a pharmacist, so it was kinda expected for me to do something like this. Not that I don’t have an interest in it!” She added quickly, and Yui laughed.  
  
     “You’re right, Kiyoko,” she said, “she is funny. Where did you two meet again?”  
  
     “We had a class together. She’s the only reason I passed it.” Kiyoko admitted.  
  
     “Give yourself more credit,” Yachi said, frowning at Kiyoko. “You put in a lot of effort.”  
  
     “Less than you would think, Yachi,” Kiyoko said. Yachi opened her mouth to reply, but instead felt something large, hairy, and heavy hit her back. With a dignified squeak, she lurched onto Kiyoko when the something plowed into her. The something, which she now saw was a copper-colored dog, was sniffing her enthusiastically and wagging its tail wildly.  
  
     “Bean!” Suga shouted, pulling the large dog off of Yachi. “I’m sorry about him. He really likes new people, but we’re still trying to train him. Did he hurt you?”  
  
     Laughing, Yachi sat up. “No, no, I’m just fine. You just wanted to say hi, huh?” She said, holding out her hand for the dog to sniff before scratching his neck. “What did you say his name was? Bean?” At the sound of his name, Bean’s tail thumped against Suga’s legs. “What kind of dog is he?”  
  
     “He’s from a rescue, so we’re not entirely sure, but we were told he’s Lab and Vizsla,” Suga said, snapping a leash to his collar. “Takeda and Ukai said we could bring our dogs to camp with us, thankfully. They’re going to be staying in the cabin at the pool house with Daichi.”  
  
     “Dogs?” Ennoshita asked, “As in, multiple animals?”  
  
     “Yeah!” Suga said brightly, waving Daichi over. “We have three of them. Bean, Akane, and Jojo.”  
  
     Sure enough, Daichi walked over holding the leash of a Shiba Inu in one hand and cradling a black chihuahua in the other. He set the chihuahua on the ground (which Yachi noticed was missing one of its front legs) and watched it sniff the ground by his foot. “Suga worked at a vet’s office last year for his residency and came home every few months begging to get some dog that needed a home. So by the time we moved from Nagoya to Tokyo, we had these three. We’re lucky our landlord is so laid back.”  
  
     “You’re a vet?” Yachi asked Suga, still scratching Bean’s scruff, who now was flopped in Yachi’s lap. Suga nodded.  
  
     “Yeah. I just finished my dissertation, so after the summer is over I’m moving to a private practice a half an hour out of Tokyo.” Suga said, sitting down next to them. The chihuahua hopped over to him and pressed against his side. “This old girl is from this area, actually. When I went down for the interview, one of the techs was talking about a blind, three-legged chihuahua whose owner had just died, and I asked to see her.” Suga dropped Bean’s leash and scooped up the smaller dog, kissing her head. “When I came back to Nagoya with Jojo, Daichi nearly had a heart attack. But I couldn’t just leave her there, confused and scared.”  
  
     At that moment, Jojo was looking very confused as to why she was being picked up, and popped Suga on the nose with one of her paws as if to say ‘enough with the kisses.’  
  
     Daichi, who was sitting on a nearby bench and letting the third dog (apparently Akane) sniff around the fire, snorted. “All you said when you called me to tell me we were getting another dog was ‘I want you to understand that I truly believe it was fate’ and when I asked you to elaborate you sent me a picture you holding her. You then ignored all of my other questions. And walked through the door with her at eleven that night.” 

     Yui whistled. “I thought my sister was crazy with her two cats in Tokyo.” 

     Yachi sighed, and moved on to scratch Bean’s belly. “I wish I could get a dog. My mom’s allergic, though, and I can’t have any pets until I move to my own place. For now, I only have plants.” She said, and turned to Kiyoko. “If you stay in Osaka and you get a dog, I want to visit you two all the time.” She said, barely thinking before the words were out of her mouth. However, upon a rapid consideration of what she had said, she opened her mouth to make amendments but Kiyoko beat her to it with a smile.

     She reached across Yachi to let Bean sniff her, before saying “If that’s all it takes, I’d be glad to.” 

     And Yachi was dying inside all over again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love dogs a lot. 
> 
> tumblr: goodgollyzollie


	4. This Feeling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning: alcohol use (of age- both characters drinking are twenty)

Tanaka was pretty sure Noya was one of the coolest people he’d ever met.

      In the ten hours or so that he’d known him, Tanaka found out that, a) Noya was training to become a police officer, b) only watches action movies, and c) played as libero for his high school volleyball team. For the duration of the campfire, after unloading the boxes of lemonade mix and s’more fixings, Terushima and Tanaka sat talking with Noya over the aforementioned foods.

      “I never would have pegged you for a volleyball player,” Terushima admitted. Noya shrugged, taking a huge bite out of his s’more before replying.

      “I get that a lot. It’s the height. Most people think you have to be really tall to play, but I was able to make it work,” Noya said, not without a hint of pride. “My best friend was the tallest guy in school, and he was the ace. But he and I were a pretty famous pair in our prefecture.” He glanced up at the table that housed the remaining marshmallows and chocolate. “I might go make another one of these,” he said, lifting the s’more in his hand. “You guys want any more?”

      “Only if you’re offering,” Terushima replied, passing him his water bottle. “And do you mind refilling this with lemonade, while you’re at it?”

      Tanaka glared at Terushima. “He’s not the damn maid,” he grumbled as Noya reached for the bottle. 

      “It’s fine, I’m already getting up.” Noya said, smiling at the still seated pair. “Be back in a moment.”

      Terushima gave him a cheery wave. “Happy trails.” Once he had turned around, Terushima dropped his hand and stared at Tanaka. “I love this guy,” he stage-whispered. 

      Tanaka nodded, taking a sip of his lemonade. “He is pretty great. I can actually kinda see him playing volleyball. He’d be one of those players who would be everywhere at once, you know? The perfect defense,” Tanaka paused, setting down his bottle, before smiling. “I’d like to play with him sometime.”

      Terushima blinked at Tanaka, before grinning conspiratorially. “Oh, is that so?”

      Tanaka glanced over at Terushima, leaning in a bit. “What? Is that so weird?”

      “No, no,” Terushima said, raising a sharply curved eyebrow, “it’s not weird.”

      “Then what’s that stupid look mean?”

      “I-it’s not a stupid look,” Terushima spluttered. “I was just curious, is all.”

      Tanaka stared at him for a moment, before rolling his eyes. “Curious about what, if I may ask,” he drawled, leaning back heavily on his hands. He felt a rock digging into his palm, but ignored it for the sake of looking nonchalant. He crossed his ankles as Terushima snorted.

      “I think you want to do more than play a set with this guy,” Terushima hypothesized, swooping to Tanaka’s face. “Am I right?” He murmured, his intense amber eyes gazing firmly into Tanaka’s. 

      Tanaka sat up straight, shoving Terushima away roughly. “Abso-fucking-lutely not. And I don’t appreciate your insinuation.”

      Shrugging, he backed off. “Fine,” he flopped back in the dewy grass. “But all I’m saying is if I weren’t a taken man, I’d tap that ass, so if you want my suggestion-”

      “I don’t need any suggestions from you about dating, thank you very much,” Tanaka hissed.

      “I wasn’t saying you should date him,” Terushima said, letting his eyelids drift shut. “But it has been a month or two since Eri, right? Summer camps are the perfect place to forget crappy exes.”

      “You know I don’t do rebounds,” Tanaka protested, jabbing his side lightly. “And besides, I don’t wanna do that to Noya. I like him.”

      “Then you should date him, if that would make both of you happy,” Terushima advised, swatting away Tanaka’s hand like a mosquito. “Or you can become besties or whatever the fuck you want. Hell if I care.”

      Tanaka caught the way his voice softened at the end, and let out an over-dramatic sniffle. “Awe, Teru, you do care!” Tanaka cried, flopping down on top of Terushima. The fool opened his eyes a second too late, feeling the full force of Tanaka landing hard onto his chest. 

      Pushing against Tanaka fruitlessly, Terushima managed to wheeze out a weak “Get off me, you dick!” before lapsing into a fit of giggles to match Tanaka’s raucous laughter.

      After a minute of wrestling, when Terushima was able to pull Tanaka off of him between gasps, the two men lay side by side in the damp grass. Panting, Tanaka raised a fist to bump lightly against Terushima’s arm. “Futamata and Bobata are lucky guys,” he whispered, smiling. “Don’t fuck it up.”

      Barking out a laugh, Terushima nodded. “I’m trying not to,” he sighed, pulling his bangs back from his face with fidgety fingers. “This is the first night I’ve spent away from them since we got together. It’s really weird. Like, before I was used to not really caring about my partners, sometimes not even when we were making out. But now I have those two, and they’re all I can think about when I’m alone. Even when I’m in our apartment, and they’re at work or in class, I wonder if they’re okay”

      Terushima yanked at his hair, hands sliding down his face, moaning. “I sound so pathetic, sorry. It’s just really freaky for me. Like I could fuck anyone, anytime. But those two...I wanna do so much more than fuck them, you know? And it’s literally only them.”

      He sat up abruptly. “After the campfire is over, you wanna drive me up to the KnD so I can get a signal to call them?” Terushima asked, glancing at his phone. 

      Tanaka shrugged. “I have to call Tora anyway.”

      They lapsed into a comfortable silence. Tanaka turned his gaze to the campfire, where Noya was toasting two marshmallows over the low flames, laughing with Alisa and Ennoshita. He let his mind wander for a few moments, eyes roving over the warm scene in front of him. Beyond the fire, Suga and Daichi were leaning against each other, dogs laying at their sides. Kiyoko, Yachi, and Yui were having an animated conversation, complete with Yui’s ridiculous arm waving and Kiyoko’s brilliant smile. Yukie and Hana were standing by the table piled high with empty bags and wrappers, grinning about some secret joke. Oikawa was sitting by Ukai and Takeda, nodding seriously at something Ukai was saying while Takeda yawned behind his hand. 

      Deep in his chest, a burst of heat bloomed. This was the feeling that he had been yearning for, this feeling of belonging, support, comfort, and love. It wasn’t connected to romance or any kind of superficial love- it was familial, instinctual. There were reasons that he looked forward to summer subconsciously all year round. And this feeling, this warm, loving feeling, wasn't the only one.

      Terushima must have been having similar thoughts, as he reached over to pull Tanaka against his side. “This summer is going to be so fucking awesome,” he declared.

      Before Tanaka could reply, Ukai stood up, clapping his hands brusquely. “Okay, you guys. We’re gonna sing a few songs to get you all in the camp spirit, then call it a night. We don’t have anything else planned tonight, but keep in mind breakfast is at seven thirty.” 

      The staff murmured as Ukai opened his case, pulling out the beautifully painted guitar that had lead hundreds of songs before. “We’re gonna play the camp song first, so if you don’t know the lyrics, they’re on page 304 of the manual. The chords are on there too, if you brought an instrument.” He began plucking at the strings, glancing at his tuner. 

      Noya flopped down next to Terushima, passing him his water bottle and a beautiful, oozing s’more. Shoving his own s’more in his mouth, he pawed through his neon orange backpack for the manual. “Wha’ pay ish it on?” He garbled out, flipping through the spiral bound book that was already bent out of shape. Terushima laughed. 

      “304,” he answered, before stuffing his own s’more in his mouth.

      Grunting a bit, Terushima groped around behind them for a moment, crowing triumphantly when he found what he was looking for. Terushima pulled a ukulele case on his lap, stroking it lovingly before unzipping it. “Hey, baby,” he whispered, pulling out the midnight blue ukulele, “miss me?”

      Noya let out a surprised sound. “You play the ukulele?”

      Tanaka snorted. “Yeah, the tattooed, pierced, sailor mouth plays arguably the cutest instrument out there. It’s pretty weird.”

      “Hey,” Terushima pouted.

      “Not in a bad way,” Tanaka assured him, “it’s just funny.”

      “I make this baby sound badass, and give it an edge. I gave it tattoos.”

      “You drew on it,” Noya said, pointing at the back.

      “Tattoos.”

      Up at the head of the campfire, Ukai was playing the starting chords of the camp song, and the trio quieted down. As the words started drifting through the slowly cooling night air, Tanaka sneaked a glance at Noya. His eyebrows were furrowed, using his fingers to follow along with the song as he quietly sang. His hair drooped forward on his face. His fire-warmed cheeks still burned slightly pink. And Tanaka had to look away, because damn if he wasn’t thinking about what Terushima had said not ten minutes earlier.

* * *

  
Terushima ended up being on the phone for nearly an hour. Tanaka called Tora, his sister, and his parents all in twenty minutes. Noya called his dad in ten. And yet he still wanted to stay up at the KnD while Tanaka waited for Terushima to finish his call. 

     So, naturally, they sat on the back deck of the KnD and started a game of two truths and a lie.

      The night air had gotten considerably colder, now that there was no campfire to keep them warm. Tanaka had dug up a sweatshirt and a blanket behind the seats on the truck, and they sat huddled on the stairs leading down towards the garden and a mouth of a hiking trail. Tanaka decided to wrap himself in the thin flannel blanket, insisting that Noya wore the sweatshirt he found.

      It was too big, something that he had bought in his high school days. The cuffs were frayed and dirty, and the logo on the front was cracked and faded. But Noya made it look kinda good. Which was slightly worrisome. 

      The only thing keeping Tanaka slightly okay in this situation was the fact that Noya had a couple beers in the back of his car.

      “Okay,” Noya said, “I’ve ridden a motorcycle, I grew up on a farm, and I have two older sisters.”

      Tanaka sighed, hitching the blanket up higher on his shoulders. “I find it hard to believe you grew up on a farm,” he decided. Noya grinned. 

      “Nope, I’m an only child,” Noya said, “so drink.”

      “Really? You grew up on a farm?” Tanaka asked, more than a little incredulous. Begrudgingly, he took a swig of lukewarm beer. “Okay, my turn. Uh, I was a gymnast until I was eleven. I once stabbed myself in the face with a pencil. And my mom once drove me and my sister to Disneyland in the middle of the winter because she was mad at my dad.”

      The Disneyland thing sounds fake,” Noya said. Tanaka spluttered.

      “And me being a gymnast is more plausible?” He asked.

      “I don’t know, I can dig it,” Noya chimed, “I bet you could rock spandex.”

      “Drink up,” Tanaka said, “and I would only wear black with rhinestones.”

      Noya smirked, sipping his beer. “I think you’d look good in silver, too,” he concluded. “Okay, originally I majored in sports medicine. I’ve, uh, never broken a bone, and my grandmother thought I was my cousin for three days at a family reunion.”

      “Well,” Tanaka mused, swirling his bottle, “you come off as a person who has definitely broken at least three bones before. And I can see you as a sports medicine major, so I’m going to say the grandmother.”

      Noya cracked a smile. “No, my grandmother is blind as a bat. She thought I was my cousin Takahiro. But she also thought he was Takahiro, so I’m not sure if she even knew I was there,” he shrugged, “I’ve never had any interest in medicine, much to my father’s dismay. He really pushed for it.”

      Draining his drink, Tanaka hummed around the lip of his bottle.

      “My dad really wanted me and my sister to go into business,” he confessed, “but that didn’t really work out. She ended up going into cosmetology, and college wasn’t really in the cards for me.”

      “Yeah?” Noya asked, passing Tanaka another beer. “Why didn’t it work for you?”

      Tanaka yanked the blanket around himself tighter. “I’m not really good at education in general. I’m working at my parent’s store right now, which he’s accepted as a suitable path for me.”

       “Yeah, I get that,” Noya offered. “I wasn’t expecting to be accepted to the police academy. I was terrible in school, to be completely honest. My father had already prepared for me to work on the farm the rest of my life.”

      “I think that’s so awesome you’re gonna be a cop. Have you started training yet?” Tanaka inquired, perhaps a bit too loudly. Noya shook his head.

      “I start the week after I go back home,” he replied, scuffing his heel on the splintery wood. “It’s a little weird. Since I’ve graduated, I’ve only done farming. I’m not really used to being away from my dad, so when I move it’ll be double weird.”

       Tanaka clapped him on the shoulder, squeezing tightly. He knew the feeling all too well. “Listen, man. I know it’s super weird to move away from home. My first summer here as a counselor I was so homesick for the first week. But, hey, after the first week, it was so awesome. This place, is so awesome, and the people are really great,” he blabbered. 

      Noya nodded, hair bobbing. “It’s not so bad so far. You and Terushima are pretty chill, and the other folks seem cool too. And it’s really pretty up here,” he mused, taking a drink from his beer. It seemed to remind him of their game, because he smacked Tanaka’s arm. “Dude, it’s your turn!”

      “Huh? Oh-” Tanaka nodded wildly, “Yeah, right. Okay, so, um...I don’t know how to ride a bike, I dated a cop who pulled me over for a dirty license plate, and, uh, my pet parakeet hid from me for an entire day by hiding in the bathtub.”

      Noya flopped against the railing of the deck and blew a raspberry. “Uh, the cop thing would be kinda funny if it were real, but it sounds really fake, so I’ll go with that.”

      “Nope,” Tanaka smirked, “I really did date a cop who pulled me over once. I actually met him at a bar a few days later, so it wasn’t, like, just like I told it, but you get the point. I never had a parakeet.”

      Noya shook his head, half sitting up and lifting the bottle to his mouth. “I’m absolutely terrible at this. And I’m such a goddamn lightweight, too.”

       Swallowing, he wiped his lip with his thumb roughly. Tanaka would be ashamed to admit how his drunk eyes followed the action. Noya paused after, hand still hovering. “Him? As in, dude cop?”

      The alcohol made his brain slow and soft, like taffy. And stupid, apparently, too. “Uh...yeah?” He managed to drag out. _Here it comes_ , he thought, _the whole ‘but you had a girlfriend, didn’t you?’ spiel._ Before he could catch up with what his mind was thinking, and come up with a damage control response, Noya was speaking. 

      “Cool, man,” Noya said, taking another swill, “you swing both ways then?”

      “Uh, yeah.”

      “Same. So you can relax,” he said, patting him heavily on the shoulder. “You won’t be getting any shit from me.”

      Tanaka let his body relax, feeling a slow giggle leak out of him. “I wa-was worried for-for a second there,” he forced out, putting his beer down for a second. “I was expecting the whole speech, you know? The same one your parents give you, and half your friends, and most of the people you like. Ya know?”

      Noya, placing his beer on the deck too, sighed deeply. “The one where they look at you like you’re either nasty or confused or easy. People seem to think I’ll sleep with them if they buy me a shitty beer.”

      “I mostly get people who tell me ‘well, you look straight. Are you sure?’” Tanaka said, raising his voice slightly at the end, in mimicry. “Look, I haven’t told anyone this, but part of the reason Eri broke up with me is because I told her I’d been with a couple guys before. I normally never really tell my partners, but I figured we’d been together for long enough. Ten months isn’t nothing. So I told her when we were flying to Europe. She didn’t really like it, and was really weird for the whole week. I knew why, but I hoped I was wrong.”

      All Noya had to offer was a rather dazed “Shit.”

      Tanaka shrugged. “It’s fine. I’ve learned my lesson, and I’ll be more careful in the future.”

      “Shit, Tanaka-”

      He raised a hand, brushing him off. “It’s fine. I’ve gotten over it. Mostly. Can we just get back to the game? I came here to get away from Eri.”

      Though he looked as though he wanted to say more, Noya conceded. “Okay, so I was born in Hawaii, I’ve only gotten seriously drunk twice before before, and I got my childhood friend arrested when we were fourteen for breaking and entering.”

      “Oh, shit, I dunno...the arrest thing?” Tanaka chuckled, already lifting the bottle to his lips. 

      “You’re right,” Noya said, “I never got anyone arrested. I did get us in a lot trouble, including us getting hammered on graduation.”

      “Is this the guy who you played volleyball with? The big one?” Tanaka asked. Noya, who had just took a mouthful of beer, narrowly avoided choking.

      “Asahi? No, shit, no,” Noya rasped out. “He would have died if he knew what I was getting into my last year. He was a year older than Fukunaga and I.”

      “Asahi?” Tanaka asked, raising his eyebrows, “Asahi who?”

      “Azumane,” Noya replied, “why?”

      “Dude! He works here,” Tanaka exclaimed, punching Noya’s shoulder lightly.  “On maintenance crew. I think we talked about him at dinner.”

      “No shit, really?” Noya buzzed. “I was kinda out of it at dinner, to be honest, but dude! I haven’t talked to Asahi in forever!”

      “He’ll be here on Tuesday,” Tanaka said, resulting in a deep, contented sigh from Noya.

      “This will be the best summer ever. You guys are the coolest people I’ve ever met, and Asahi will be here too. That’s-” Noya waved his hands excitedly, “-that’s wicked!”

      Terushima chose that moment to emerge from around the building, stuffing his phone in his pocket. “Hey, guys. Sorry that took so long. Thanks for waiting for-” He stopped, narrowing his eyes. “Are you two drinking?”

      “Yeah,” Tanaka said, raising his bottle, “and playing two truths and a lie. This guy grew up on a farm, Teru. He’s a farm boy turned cop.”

       “Ah, cool.” He turned, and started walking to the truck. “I’m going to drive you two down to the cabins, so get up. And bring the beer with you. We can’t have alcohol on camp after tonight, so I’m gonna hide it.”

       “There were only a few left, so we drank them all,” Noya explained, while he collected up the bottles dutifully. 

       “You guys did know we need to get up by seven, right?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took so long to update! School is kinda kicking my ass.
> 
> tumblr: goodgollyzollie


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